Imaging apparatus, image editing method and program

ABSTRACT

An imaging apparatus includes: an imaging device; a first storage section storing image data including an image obtained by the imaging device; a display section displaying the image data stored in the first storage section; an image-effect specification section specifying a type of image effect to be produced on the image data displayed in the display section; a scaling operation section capable of specifying expansion and contraction of the image data displayed in the display section and specifying a range of an image edit area on the displayed image data; and an image processing section performing image processing on the image edit area specified by the scaling operation section in accordance with the specification from the image-effect specification section.

CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present invention contains subject matter related to Japanese PatentApplication JP 2007-018371 filed in the Japanese Patent Office on Jan.29, 2007, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein byreference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an imaging apparatus, image editingmethod and program. More particularly, the present invention relates toan imaging apparatus, image editing method and program suitable forediting a captured image on a monitor of an imaging apparatus main unit.

2. Description of the Related Art

To date, for a method of printing an image captured by a digital stillcamera, methods using DPOF (Digital Print Order Format), PictBridge,etc., have been known. In these formats, a plurality of images aresimply allocated to a predetermined positions, and printing is performedusing a printer connected to the digital still camera. However, it hasnot been possible to create an image having a layout that is desired bya user.

Accordingly, a proposal has been made of an imaging apparatus capable ofeasily performing editing in order to arrange captured images in adesired layout singly by a digital camera (for example, refer toJapanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2006-115044).

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

For parameters to be used for edit processing, it is necessary to set atype of edit processing, to set a degree (also called strength, a level,etc.) of the edit processing, to set a position of the target range forthe edit processing, to set the size of the range, and the like. Ingeneral, operations are performed using a cross key, including forexample, the description of Japanese Unexamined Patent ApplicationPublication No. 2006-115044. There are many operation steps, and theoperations are complicated and difficult to understand.

The present invention has been made in view of these points. It isdesirable to provide an imaging apparatus having user-friendliness for auser using zoom keys disposed on the imaging apparatus.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is providedan imaging apparatus including: an imaging device; a first storagesection storing image data including an image obtained by the imagingdevice; a display section displaying the image data stored in the firststorage section; an image-effect specification section specifying a typeof image effect to be produced on the image data displayed in thedisplay section; a scaling operation section capable of specifyingexpansion and contraction of the image data displayed in the displaysection and specifying a range of an image edit area on the displayedimage data; and an image processing section performing image processingon the image edit area specified by the scaling operation section inaccordance with the specification from the image-effect specificationsection.

With the above-described configuration, a range of an image edit area onimage data is specified by a scaling section provided in an imagingapparatus main unit, and thus it is possible to provide operationalitywhich is intuitive and very easy to understand for the user.

By the present invention, it is possible to achieve user-friendlinessfor the user who edits images using an imaging apparatus.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a block configuration of an imagingapparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of an operation panel of an imagingapparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating edit processing according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a screen for selecting an edit imageaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates a display example of an icon indicating a type ofimage effect according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a screen for selecting a type of effectaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 illustrates a display example of an image editing screenaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a screen for specifying a position ofan image editing area according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 9 illustrates an example of a screen for specifying a size of animage editing area according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 illustrates a display example of an icon indicating strength ofan effect according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 illustrates a display example of an icon specifying strength ofeffects according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 12 illustrates an example of an image display before editingaccording to an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 13 illustrates an example of an image display after editing(blurring) according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In the following, a description will be given of an embodiment of thepresent invention with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a configuration of a digital stillcamera, namely an imaging apparatus, according to an embodiment of thepresent invention. The present embodiment conforms to the standard of acurrent typical digital camera determined as the standard of JapanElectronics and Information Technology industries Association (JEITA).

That is to say, the present embodiment conforms to the standard of thefile system of DCF (Design rule for Camera File System), and conforms tothe standard of the file format of Exif (Exchangeable image file formatfor digital still camera). In the JPEG (joint Photographic Expert Group)file format, an area called an application marker segment is defined forstoring application specific information. In the Exif format,information specific to Exif is stored in this area.

In FIG. 1, a processing section 1 surrounded by a dashed line is aportion controlled by a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 2. This processingsection 1 includes an internal recording medium 3 (main storage unit),such as a RAM (Random Access Memory), etc., an image processing section4, an external interface 5, an RGB processing section 6, a signalprocessing section 7, and a video-output processing section 8. The CPU 2includes a ROM (Read Only Memory) not shown in the figure, and performscontrol and operation in accordance with various programs, such as animage editing program, etc., recorded in the ROM using the internalrecording medium 3 as a work area. An operation section 9 is connectedto the CPU 2 through an interface (omitted to be shown in the figure),and a signal corresponding to the operation of a shutter button, etc.,disposed in the operation section 9 is supplied to the CPU 2.

Furthermore, data produced by compressing an imaging signal by JPEG(Joint Photographic Experts Group), etc., is recorded onto an externalrecording medium 11 (external storage unit) through a media processingsection 10. For the external recording medium 11, a removable recordingmedium, such as a writable optical disc, a memory card, etc., or aninternal nonvolatile memory of the imaging apparatus main unit, such asa flash memory or a hard disk is used.

An imaging signal from a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) 12 as an imagingdevice is supplied to the signal processing section 7, and imagingsignal processing is performed. Regardless of whether there is inputfrom the operation section 9, an image signal captured by the CCD 12 isoutput from the signal processing section 7, and is stored in theinternal recording medium 3. During shooting, images in the internalrecording medium 3 is constantly updated. Writing data onto and readingdata from the internal recording medium 3, etc., are controlled by theCPU 2.

The imaging signal from the internal recording medium 3 is supplied tothe RGB processing section 6 through the signal processing section 7,and a display signal formed by the RGB processing section 6 is suppliedto an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) 13, which is a display unit (displaysection). The LCD 13 is, for example disposed on the back face of thecamera main unit. The LCD 13 displays not only the imaging signal, butalso an image signal imported from the external recording medium 11through a media processing section 10.

When the shutter button of the operation section 9 is pressed, animaging signal taken in the internal recording medium 3 is convertedinto an image file, such as JPEG, etc., by the image processing section4. The image file is stored as another data from the imaging signal inthe internal recording medium 3. The image file read from the internalrecording medium 3 is stored into the external recording medium 11through the media processing section 10 under the control of the CPU 2.

An updated reproduced image is constantly display on the LCD 13. OSDdata, such as a contracted image of recorded image data, software keys,such as icons, etc., are superimposed on the reproduced image by thesignal processing section 7 and are displayed on the LCD 13. The OSD (OnScreen Display) is a general term which means a memory area forpreparing data, such as icons, etc., to be displayed by beingsuperimposed on a real-time image taken from the CCD 12 of a digitalstill camera, and a mechanism thereof.

When OSD data is created, the latest image data already recorded on theexternal recording medium 11 is obtained, is converted into a sizesuitable for an OSD display by the image processing section 4, and thenis stored into the OSD display area of the internal recording medium 3.However, when there is an image captured immediately before and having asize suitable for the OSD display of the image in the internal recordingmedium 3, it is not necessary to obtain the data from the externalrecording medium 11. The image processing section 4 functions as animage processing section, and is controlled by the CPU 2 such that thescaling processing of the image to be displayed and imageediting/processing are performed in response to the operation of thekey, etc., by the user in the operation section 9.

An analog color-video signal is output from a video output terminal, notshown in the figure, of the video-output processing section 8. When anexternal monitor 14 is connected to the video output terminal, it ispossible to display an image stored in the internal recording medium 3or the external recording medium 11 onto the external monitor 14.Furthermore, for example, a printer 15 is connected to the externalinterface 5, thereby making it possible to print the image.

The operation section 9 includes a shutter button, zoom keys, a crosskey, etc. FIG. 2 illustrates an example of an operation panel of adigital still camera 20, which is an imaging apparatus according to anembodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 2, together with a displayscreen of the LCD 13, zoom keys 21 (expansion and contraction operationsection), a menu key 22, a cross key 23 (image-effect specificationsection and edit-area position specification section) and a decision key24 are disposed on a face of the digital still camera 20.

The zoom keys 21 adjust digital zooming and optical zooming at shootingtime. When the zoom keys 21 function as adjustment keys of the digitalzooming, it is possible to change the expansion display or thecontraction display of an image captured by the CCD 12 and displayed onthe LCD 13 by operating a wide (wide-angle) key 21W or a tele(telescopic) key 21T. Also, when the zoom keys 21 function as opticalzooming, it is possible to change a focal distance between the CCD 12and a lens not shown in the figure to change telescopic and wide anglein order to change the expansion and contraction of an image projectedon the CCD 12 by operating the wide (wide-angle) key 21W or the tele(telescopic) key 21T. Furthermore, it is possible to specify the rangeof the image edit area to be subjected to an image effect on the imagedisplayed on the LCD 13 by the wide key 21W or the tele key 21T.

The cross key 23 includes direction instruction keys instructing themovement direction of a cursor displayed on the LCD 13 to any one of anup, down, right or left direction by pressing each end part(individually called an up key 23U, a down key 23D, a left key 23L, anda right key 23R) of the cross-shaped operation key. Using the functionsas a direction instruction key of this cross key 23, it is possible tospecify the position of an image edit area on the image data, to specifythe type of image effect on the image edit area specified by theabove-described zoom keys 21, to adjust the strength of the effect, andthe like. In this regard, for a direction instruction key, it ispossible to use an input device, such as a dial, a roller, a track ball,a touch panel, etc. Also, the operation section 9 is not limited to amechanical configuration, and a GUI (Graphical User Interface) foroperating buttons, etc., displayed on a display screen by icons may beused.

The menu key 22 is used when various menu items, for example, the typeof image effect described below, the strength of the effect, etc., aredisplayed. Also, a decision key 24 (storage instruction section) is usedas a trigger key for starting certain processing, and used for selectingone of the options when options are displayed.

In the Exif file format, additional information of Exif IFD is defined.The additional information of the Exif IFD includes a tag on a shootingdate and time, a shooting place, the configuration of image data, etc.Information on a shooting place can be obtained by positionalinformation acquisition techniques, etc., using services provided bycellular phone companies, such as the GPS (Global Positioning System)function and Open i-area (a registered trademark). The obtainedpositional information is stored in the internal recording medium 3 orthe external recording medium 11. The additional information of an imagestored in the internal recording medium 3 or the external recordingmedium 11 is included in an image file by the Exif file format.

Next, a description will be given of editing processing of the presentembodiment with reference to an editing processing flowchart in FIG. 3and FIGS. 4 to 11.

In FIG. 3, the user first selects an “image effect” menu (omitted to beshown in the figure) by operating the menu key 22 and the cross key 23,etc., in order to select an image to be subjected to the image effect(step S1). In the present embodiment, it is possible to select either ofan image immediately after shooting or an image recorded in the externalrecording medium 11. In an example shown in FIG. 4, a plurality ofthumbnail images are displayed on the LCD 13, and the user selects athumbnail image 25S out of the thumbnails by operating the cross key 23and the decision key 24.

As shown in FIG. 5, the CPU 2 displays the enlarged image 25 of thethumbnail image 25S on the full screen of the LCD 13 (step S2). Here, anicon 26 for selecting a “type of effect” on the image 25. Of course, alist of thumbnail images may not be displayed. Alternatively, images maybe displayed one by one on the LCD 13, and when a desired image isdisplayed, the user may press the decision key 24 for a selection usingthe cross key 23.

Next, when the user moves the cursor on the icon 26 of “type of effect”by operating the cross key 23, and presses the icon 26 of “type ofeffect”, a list of image effects are displayed in a format like adrop-down menu. The user selects a desired image effect from thedisplayed items (step S3). FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a screen forselecting a type of effect. For a type of effect, for example, variousimage effects, such as mosaic, etc., can be adopted in addition toblurring 26 a, and black and white 26 b.

The CPU 2 detects the image effect selected by the user, and, as shownin FIG. 7, displays a frame 30 indicating an image editing area 31 bybeing superimposed on the image 25 of the LCD 13. First, the userspecified the position of the image editing area 31, that is to say,which part of the image 25 is to be edited by operating each key of thecross key 23 (step S4). If the position of the image editing area 31 isset in advance, for example if the image editing area is fixed in thecenter of the screen, the processing of step S4 is omitted.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a screen for specifying the position ofan image editing area 31. For example, if the left key 23L of the crosskey 23 is pressed, the image editing area 31 is moved to the left.Furthermore, if the up key 23U of the cross key 23 is pressed, the imageediting area 31 is moved upward. The position of the image editing area31 is obtained, for example by detecting the pixel coordinates of acentral point 30 c on the screen of the frame 30 forming the imageediting area 31. The image editing area 31 surrounded by the frame 30 issubjected to the image effect selected in the processing of theabove-described step S3. The image processing is not performed on asurrounding image non-editing area 32. In this regard, in this example,the frame 30 is set to be a circle, but the shape is not limited tothis. Various shapes, such as an oval, a triangle, etc., may be used.

In the example shown in FIG. 8, the position of the image editing areais determined on the basis of the position of the central point 30 c ofthe circular frame 30. However, the reference of the position of theimage editing area 31 may be the top of the frame 30, or may be acentral point or a corner of a polygonal frame. In this regard, thecentral point 30 c of the frame 30 is displayed in FIG. 8, but may notbe displayed in the actual image in terms of easiness of viewing theimage.

Next, the size of the image editing area is specified. FIG. 9illustrates an example of a screen for specifying the size (range) ofthe image editing area 30. The size of the frame 30 is specified as anarbitrary size by operating the zoom keys 21 (step S5). For example, ifthe tele key 21T of the zoom keys 21 is pressed, the diameter of theframe 30 increases, and if the wide key 21W is pressed, the diameter ofthe frame 30 decreases. The specification of the size of the imageediting area 31 becomes intuitive and a very easy operation using thezoom keys 21 in this manner.

The range of the image editing area 31 is determined, for example bycontinuing to press the zoom keys 21 and by releasing the zoom keys 21at the point in time when the frame 30 becomes a desired size.Alternatively, the range may be determined by the frame 30 becominglarger (smaller) by one step by pressing the zoom keys 21 each time.

When the specification of the size of the image editing area iscompleted, as shown in FIG. 10, a “strength of effect” button 33displayed by an icon on the screen 25 of the LCD 13 and a similar“execute editing” button 34 are displayed. Here, when the cursor ismoved on the “strength of effect” button 33 by operating the cross key23 and the decision key 24 is pressed, the strength of effect set tohave several steps in advance as shown in FIG. 11 is shown. The userselects desired strength of effect from the several steps of strength ofeffect by operating the cross key 23 (step S6). For example, if thecursor is moved on a desired strength of effect, for example “+1” by thecross key 23, and then after the elapse of a certain no-operation time,a determination is automatically made, the trouble of pressing thedecision key 24 can be omitted, resulting in better operationality.

In this regard, after the completion of the specification of theposition of the editing area by the cross key 23 in the above-describedstep S4, in FIG. 7, the “strength of effect” button 33 may be displayedtogether with the frame 30 on the image 25. In this case, after theimage editing area 31 on the image 25 is specified by the cross key 23,a software key for adjusting the strength of image effect is displayedtogether with the frame 30 with being superimposed on the image 25 onthe LCD 13. Before specifying a range of editing area, it becomespossible for the user to specify the strength of the image effect, andthe image processing section 4 adjusts the strength of the image effecton the image editing area 31 on the basis of the instruction from thecross key 23 through the software key. In this manner, by assigning thekey function specifying the strength of the image effect to the crosskey 23 in addition to the key function of specifying a type of imageeffect and a function of specifying the position of the image editingarea, and by appropriately changing these key functions, it is possibleto efficiently use a limited number of operation keys of the digitalstill camera 20, thereby reducing the number of operation keys.

On the LCD 13 after a type of image effect shown in FIGS. 7 to 11, theimage, which has been subjected to the image effect on the image editingarea 31 of the image 25, is displayed on the LCD 13 in real time(immediately). In this case, it is possible for the user to performediting while checking the image after the image processing, and thus itis possible to provide the user with an intuitive and easilyunderstandable editing environment. Of course, only the frame 30 may bedisplayed on the image 25 without achieving an image effect in real timeon the image editing area 31.

After specifying the strength of effect, the user operates the cross key23 to move the cursor on the “execute editing” button 34, and pressesthe decision key 24. Thereby, the image processing on the image editingarea 31 is executed. That is to say, under the control of the CPU 2,which has received a signal from the decision key 24, the image fileread from the internal recording medium 3 is stored into the externalrecording medium 11 through the media processing section 10 (step S7).When the processing of step S7 is completed, the CPU 2 terminates theediting processing.

FIGS. 12 and 13 show an example of display of a cosmos before editingand an example of display of the cosmos after editing, respectively. Inthis example, blurring is performed as an image effect. A cosmos isformed by gathering many small flowers called tubular flowers, and sucha flower shape is called a capitulum. The entire flower formed bygathering small flowers is called an anthodium. The parts look likepetals around anthodia 35 are ligulate flowers 36 that have changed fromtubular flowers. In FIG. 12, the focus of the digital camera is placedon a cosmos in the center, and the portion other than the cosmos in thecenter is out of focus on the whole. In contrast, for the cosmos in FIG.13, which has been subjected to blurring processing, the anthodia 35inside the frame 37 and the surroundings thereof are an unprocessedimage. However, the image editing area outside the frame 37 has beensubjected to the blurring processing and is a blurred image, which ismore than just being out of focus.

As described above, by an embodiment of the present invention, thespecification of the image editing area in the image editing function ofthe digital still camera 20 is carried out by the zoom keys 23, and thusit is possible to provide operationality which is intuitive and veryeasy to understand for the user. Accordingly, the user-friendliness isimproved. The zoom keys 23 are not used at the time of reproducingimages, and thus it is possible to achieve the functions withoutinterfering with the operations other than image editing.

Also, the assignment of functions to one key (the cross key 23) can beappropriately changed, that is to say, the image-effect specificationfunction on the image 25, the image-editing area position specificationfunction, and the image-effect strength specification function can beappropriately changed to the cross key 23. Accordingly, the operationkeys disposed in a limited space are reduced.

In this regard, in the above-described embodiment, a description hasbeen given of an embodiment of an imaging apparatus by taking a digitalstill camera as an example. However, the present invention is notlimited to this, and can be applied to a so-called camcorder in which animage capturing section and a recording section are integrated. When thepresent invention is applied to a camcorder, the editing method of thepresent invention can be used for either of a still image or a movingimage. Furthermore, it is also possible to apply the present inventionto a mobile terminal unit, etc., having an imaging function.

Also, in the above-described embodiment, the frame 30 indicating theimage editing area 31 is displayed on the LCD 13. However, it is notnecessary to display this frame 30. For example, if the differencebetween the image editing area and the image non-editing area in thevicinity of the border of the frame 30 is obvious, it is possible toeasily recognize the area on which the image effect is produced withoutdisplaying the frame 30.

Also, in the above-described embodiment, the image editing area 31 andthe image non-editing area 32 are separated by the frame 30 (refer toFIG. 7). However, the present invention is not limited to this. Forexample, the image effect may be produced gradually or step by step onthe image non-editing area 32 from the frame 30 as a starting position.

Also, the software functions of the above-described embodiment may berecorded in a recording medium as program code, and may be supplied to asystem or an apparatus. The computer (or controller, such as a CPU,etc.) of the system or the apparatus may read and execute the programcode stored in the recording medium to achieve the functions as a matterof course.

Also, in this specification, the steps describing the programs stored inthe ROM include the processing to be performed in time series inaccordance with the described sequence as a matter of course. Also, thesteps include the processing which is not necessarily executed in timeseries, but is executed in parallel or individually.

It should be understood by those skilled in the art that variousmodifications, combinations, sub-combinations and alterations may occurdepending on design requirements and other factors insofar as they arewithin the scope of the appended claims or the equivalents thereof.

1. An imaging apparatus comprising: an imaging device; a first storagesection storing image data including an image obtained by the imagingdevice; a display section displaying the image data stored in the firststorage section; an image-effect specification section specifying a typeof image effect to be produced on the image data displayed in thedisplay section; a scaling operation section specifying expansion andcontraction of the image data displayed in the display section andspecifying a range of an image edit area on the displayed image data;and an image processing section performing image processing on the imageedit area specified by the scaling operation section in accordance withthe specification from the image-effect specification section to modifythe image data within the range of the image edit area based on the typeof image effect and to maintain original image data outside the range ofthe image edit area to generate a modified image including both modifiedimage data within the range and the original image outside the range,the display section displaying the modified image.
 2. The imagingapparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a storageinstruction section instructing to store the modified image; and acontrol section storing the modified image data into a second storagesection on the basis of the instruction of the storage instructionsection.
 3. The imaging apparatus according to claim 2, wherein thefirst storage section is a main storage unit, and the second storagesection is an external storage unit.
 4. The imaging apparatus accordingto claim 1, wherein a frame line of the image edit area specified by thescaling operation section is displayed on the image data displayed inthe display section.
 5. The imaging apparatus according to claim 2,further comprising: an edit-area position specification sectionspecifying a position of an image edit area on the image data displayedin the display section.
 6. The imaging apparatus according to claim 5,wherein after the position of the image edit area on the image data isspecified by the edit-area position specification section, a function ofspecifying a strength of the image effect is assigned to the edit-areaposition specification section, and the image effect is produced on theimage edit area of the image data on the basis of the strength of theimage effect specified by the edit-area position specification section.7. The imaging apparatus according to claim 5, wherein after theposition of the image edit area on the image data is specified by theedit-area position specification section, a software key for allowing auser to select the strength of the image effect to perform stepwiseadjustment is displayed by being superimposed on the image data in thedisplay section, and the image processing section produces image effecton the image edit area of the image data on the basis of the strength ofthe image effect specified by the edit-area position specificationsection through the software key.
 8. The imaging apparatus according toclaim 5, wherein the edit-area position specification section is adirection specification key.
 9. A method of editing an image,comprising: displaying image data in a display section of an imagingapparatus main unit; specifying a type of image effect to be produced onthe image data displayed in the display section by an image-effectspecification section of the imaging apparatus main unit; specifying arange of an image edit area on the displayed image data by a scalingoperation section of the imaging apparatus main unit capable ofspecifying a scaling on the displayed image data by the display section;performing image processing, using a processor, on the image edit areaspecified by the scaling operation section in accordance with thespecification from the image-effect specification section to modify theimage data within the range of the image edit area based on the type ofimage effect and to maintain original image data outside the range ofthe image edit area to generate a modified image including both modifiedimage data within the range and the original image outside the range;and displaying the modified image.
 10. A non-transitory computerreadable medium encoded with a program that causes a computer in animaging apparatus to perform a method comprising: displaying image datain a display section of an imaging apparatus main unit; specifying atype of image effect to be produced on the image data displayed in thedisplay section by an image-effect specification section of the imagingapparatus main unit; specifying a range of an image edit area on thedisplayed image data by a scaling operation section of the imagingapparatus main unit capable of specifying a scaling on the displayedimage data by the display section; performing image processing, using aprocessor, on the image edit area specified by the scaling operationsection in accordance with the specification from the image-effectspecification section to modify the image data within the range of theimage edit area based on the type of image effect and to maintainoriginal image data outside the range of the image edit area to generatea modified image including both modified image data within the range andthe original image outside the range; and displaying the modified image.11. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the type ofimage effect is one of blurring, a mosaic effect, and converting toblack-and-white.
 12. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, whereinthe image edit area is a circle.
 13. The imaging apparatus according toclaim 1, wherein the image edit area is a triangle.
 14. The imagingapparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: an image effectstrength receiving unit configured to receive from a user a valuespecifying a strength of the image effect is assigned to the edit-areaposition specification section, and the image effect is produced on theimage edit area of the image data on the basis of the strength of theimage effect such that a greater value of the strength provides agreater modification of the image data by the image effect.